Minnesota Warriors Ice Hockey has started a team for military vets in St. Cloud

ST. CLOUD — This is a different type of recruitment for military veterans.

The Minnesota Warriors Ice Hockey program has started a team for veterans made up of players living in the St. Cloud area. The St. Cloud team will play an exhibition game against a team made up of players from Twin Cities area teams at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Municipal Athletic Complex.

The St. Cloud team has 19 players listed on its roster on the program's website (http://bit.ly/2KQZHrJ). On April 25, Minnesota Warriors held a recruiting hockey scrimmage for players from the area.

"We got 12 or 13 players that night and we've been having practices at the MAC every other week for the last two months," said Tim Loney, the organization's vice president of business operations and recruiting director. "The team in St. Cloud is a mix of players, some very good players and some not so good players. We're going to try to even it up for the exhibition so we don't kill each other."

“This is a different uniform, but you're with guys who are like-minded and knowing that somebody has got your back and that whatever is said in the locker room stays in the locker room.”

Tim Loney

The program uses the game of hockey to build camaraderie as well as a connection to the community that the players live in. It also aims to help assist veterans back into a mainstream lifestyle that they had prior to their disabilities.

"Reintegrated is a good word," Loney said. "We're trying to help these guys fit back into society. In the military, you get re-wired to think differently.

"This is a different uniform, but you're with guys who are like-minded and knowing that somebody has got your back and that whatever is said in the locker room stays in the locker room. It's about shared experiences and we have players from all branches of the military."

Nationally, he estimated that there are six women's players in Warriors hockey, which has teams in eight states and Washington D.C. He added that he would like to have enough players for a women's Warriors team or teams in the state.

Besides St. Cloud, Warriors teams are located in the Twin Cities and Duluth in the state.

Loney said that "40-50 percent" of the Warriors hockey players are Army veterans. To play on a Warriors team, players must be an honorably discharged veteran, must be classified as having a 10 percent or greater disability rating, be a Purple Heart recipient or have documented service connected injuries incurred while on duty or documented mental health issues. Potential players receive classification ratings from the Veterans Administration.

"If we have somebody who doesn't have a disability verified, we can refer people to our connections to begin the claim process so that they will be eligible to play," Loney said.

The players involved in Minnesota Warriors Ice Hockey skate year round. Loney said that one goal is to get Warriors teams to not only practice, but get involved in adult recreation leagues in their respective areas.

Minnesota Warriors Ice Hockey is affiliated with USA Hockey and USA Disabled Hockey. Players are also chosen to play in state and national tournaments and Loney said that the program has grown from six players about 10 years ago to close to 200.

Players are asked to pay USA Hockey's annual $50 membership fee and if they are playing in leagues or tournaments, they are asked to pay a one-time cost of $300 for their jerseys.

"But if they can't afford that, we have grants available to buy the jerseys or grants available if players can't afford the USA Hockey registration," Loney said. "We don't want cost to be a barrier.

"We won't pay transportation to and from practices, but we do our best to pay all travel and expenses for players when they go on trips to play in tournaments."

Warriors players can also get donated equipment to use if they cannot afford it. Minnesota Warriors Ice Hockey has a working relationship with United Heroes League, which began as Defending the Blueline.

Loney is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve who works as a sales representative for a company in Rosemount. Loney, who did not play on his high school hockey team at Cretin-Derham Hall, has been playing Warriors hockey for about five years.

He said that there are veterans of all ages that play, including veterans of the Vietnam War. Loney relayed a story that shows the impact that the program has had on its players.

"We were going to have a (story) on NBC Sports and I was looking for a guy to be interviewed and I talked to one of our players," Loney said. "I asked him where would you be without Warrior hockey? He said that he'd probably be in his parent's basement playing video games or he'd be one of the 22 veterans who commit suicide every day.

"We've seen guys who have come out of their shells and been totally transformed by this and we have not lost one Warrior to suicide yet."